commences on illegal excavators Cb.rl.Uan Ok eke, Abu.ja
1:
oChhif J wnoke
AJruyhu
FCT arr.a councils' chairmen jittery over sanction threat S tor let! by CtuUliul Okeke. AbQja IERE Is caution now on the part of the fed erat Capl al TerT1tory (FC11 area councils' chair men as FCT Admlnl!JlraUon said II may sanclion errtng are l councils In the territory by way of withholding seme of lhelr funds If the territory I!J not saUsOed ~ Ith the levtl of Implementation and uUllzation or rlinds allocated to them Already. lilt admlnistrallon hiM warned that Ir Its monitoring and ImplemenlaliOn report for an area coundl ror a P'- rtlcular month was un!l8t1sractory. It would wtthhott' funds attnaable to lhe council until amendment is made. Issuing the warning In AbuJ:! . the Minister of State for FCT. Chid Jumoke AkJnJlde stated thai future allocalton " to the sL"( area councils would bt' based on ~'rfc rmance and submission of monthly report on uUll.!aUon or runds
T
FCTA lashes out at contractors over Ilbandoned projects E Federa l Capital Terrttory Administration (FerAl tas lashed out at an Indigenous con lmctor for delay In compleUng a 12-year old power-injection substaUon at Zone I , Wuse, Abuja. The 33 / KV s ubstation was meanl to complement existing power substations in the natlon'S capital but hu suffertd setbacks sln~ It was awarded to M I S Mogab6 Engtnee:rtng Ntgena Umlted In 1991. according to In o--matlon The ExttuU / e Secretary of the federal Capital Development ,I,uthonly (FCDA), Engineer Adamu lamalla, according 10 his media assistant , Richard Nduu], undt'rU,o t a tour of the projects and condemned substl, ndard malenals used In Installing 33KY pam:ls, ·:ables. transrormers and ancillary equipment In t:u~ projttl_ lamalla also (:I)ndemncd UU~ attitude or another finn_ BOSS Englncerlng Nigena Limited In the maintenance of IdecommunlcaUons ducts and manholes In the temLOry.
TI
Farmers to benefit from CBN's 75 per cent loan guarantee ARMERS In the 36 states or the Federation, Including Ule Federal Capital Territory tFC11 aR to beuent from the Central Bank of Nlge· ria ICBNl's 75 j: er «nt loan guarantees on all Input and \\Iorklng ca pital as w('!l as llmlted living cost loans 10 the farmers to plant their crops The loans bl'\ng provided through the Deposit Money Banks. hll! a duration of about 24-28 months. according to th .. npex bank . The loan gua rentee 15 being packaged under the Nlgenan tncentJVr-Based RIsk Sharing Syslem For Agricultural Lending INIRSAL.) NIRSAL if, a I'ubllc-pnvate InltiaUve &et up by the CBN, lht' Bank. m ' Committee and Ule federaJ MinIstry o r Agrk' ulluTe_
F
1E Federal capital Terrttory (FC11 Administratio n has commenced clampdown on persons who engage In Illegal excavation as well as other mining activities In the terntory. The exerCise was conducted through the Abuja Environmental Protection Board (AEPBI. It saw to the arrest of owners or different tipping trucks as well as 1m· pounding of lhe tnacks. Dln!Ctor of the board. Isah Shalbu. led the
!.Ioard's enrorcement team to sites where Ule' gal excavation was going
on The over 10 suspects arrested would be charged to court without delay. accordJngto theadmlnlstraUon. Speaking dunng the exercise, AlhaJI Shualbu said II was time to stop all activities that threaten the environ ment In Abuja. ' -Ie saki, -If Abuja has been deslroyed by our rore raUlers we would not have AbuJa today. You have to leave this environment In II.!! best rorm for generaUons unborn.
-Senator Bala Mohammed
NOA hono\m driver who returned money forgotten in his cab PJ. Collin. N.buUe. AbuJa part of the Na ~ llonal Onelllatlon gency's ~Do the rtghtthlng~calJlPaJgnand
Its call for the evolution of an adequate reward system to reinforce good behavior In our society, lheagencyhasorgantsed an award In honour of a taxi drlver who returned a wallet oonl31111nga large sum of money as well as
~:~:~,'::'~:',&,:;:~: muter.
Wh~;';"':'~ ;,'.~;'.~; Utako Motor Park, In Abuja. the Director General of NOA. Mr Mike Omen said It Was high time lIocle ty began to recognise those who cherish posltlv~ values such as honesty, ~pon siblUty and trustwort.hlness In ways: lhat would encourage olhers 10 look up to Ulema!l role mod.els. He said the ta-"I dr1ver, Mr lIudu Idr1!1. was a confirmation of NOA's finn position that not all Nigerians are corrupl: hence Ihe eTTOr or labelling Nigeria and all her citizens as corrupt because of Ole nefarious aclivlties of a negligible rew.
NaITilting her experteu«: with Mr Idrts, Miss lye Amana , whose be longings he returned , said she forgot her waltet and olher belongings In Ule taJtt out of excitement on her convocaUon day 11lcBtnghamUnlverslty. Nasarawa State graduate said the taxi dr1vertraced h~ r wlth her parUculars on some documents she left be-
hind in the taxi and returned hcr belongings LO her n:slden«: Ihe followIng morning wlthoul a kobo missing from her wallet. Corroborating her alOry, Iye'a father. Engtneer Eddy Amana . It ronnerEx~cllUveDlrector
of Nlger1a Television Authortly, said the family was ovuwhdmed by the honesty of Ule driver and
deCided to reward him with a 32-tnch LCD IdeViSion, a full-year subscnbed sate1lJle decoder and a cash pnu of nfty thousand nalnl TIle NOA also gave Mr ldrts a Civic ~pol15lbll lIy Award which confus on him. the status of a CIvic Responsibility Am· bassador and gave him all addlUonal thirty thousand naira cash award
FG sets up needs assessment Ecommittee for unity schools Federal Goverument has consUlUted the Needs Asscssmcoi Committees for the 104 Federal Government Colleges as part of deliberate efforts to re\'8ffip the schools Minister of State ror Education , Barrister Nyesom Wlke, who Inaugurnled the committees III Ahuja. tasked the team to do a thorough Job that would enable Ole government plan and Intervene appropriately In lenn!l or allocaUon of re80lIrttS 10 Improve Iearntng facUlUes In Ihe InsUtulions. The committees we~ consliluted along the line of the six geopolitical zones
lie said government was concerned about the poor state oJ physical tn frastructure In the unity schools, stressing that Ulls negates UlI! drtve and commitment or the present admlnlstraUOfl to provide UIC: best secondary educaUon ~to Ule next generaUon of Nigerian!! • Wlke noted lhal the decrepit l'Itate of the schools contributed 1m mensdy to the dcdlne In performance of students In learning viS-a -vis publie examinations con · ductedbyWestMr1canExaminatlon CounCil (WAECI and National Examlnatlon Council (NEeO) amongst others ·We cannot expect op-
tlmal performanc e or achievement rrom teachen and students that are phys:lcaUy, mentally, and psychologically haraMcd by poor education faclllties and unfr1endly leamtng envtronmenl.- he said. TIle commlnees. ac cordlllg to the tcnns ofrd'· erem~ read by the MlnJstel. wen: expected 10probc the uUll:saUOn of fUl'ld!l al located 10 the schools, assess Ole physical condillon, quality, adequacy andeducaUOnalstabilltyof all existing facilities . In· eluding school buJldlngs, classrooms. libraries. set· enceand fCTlaborntor1es, technk:al workshops. hostels and sources of water supply
First lady commends NCAC for tackling unemployment IRST Lndy or NI~ ria . Dame Pa · tlence Jonathan h as oommended Ihe National Council for Arts and Culture for Its efforts towards finding solution to Ule present unemploy· ment situation In Nlge· ria, through the 5th edl· tlon or the African Arts and Crnll.5 Expo IAFAC). The First Lady u.'ho ~'8S represented by the Special Adviser to the President 011 Gender Issues. Dr Asma'u Abdulkadir, made this ~mmendalton While delIVerIng a !peech
F
al the ceremony According to her, Ihe 5th edlUon of At~AC wiUl Ih~ Uleme-Promotlng the Crafts Industry for Economic Transrormation, was very apl in the quest towards diversifying the productive capacity orulI! economy and mlUgate the challenges of unemployment and creale wealth. TIle flrst lady also commf'nded the participation of women In the MAC. Whll~ speaking, the Minister of Tour1sm Cuilure and Natlonlll Ortentalion. cWer Edem Duke
satd the mlllistry was particularly fe -englneerIng and refOCUSing the cullure sector towards contributing to government efforts at IncreasIng Ihe Gross Dome.sllc Producls and foreign ex:change earning Also speaking, lhe Execull\'e Director or NaUonal Council for Arts and Culture. Mr Mwajlm Maldugu said thai the 5th edition or AFAC would promote the 1mport and export busl ness or African arts and crafts
---"-'--=---"----'--
-1",1«"'-:7
.Don>, Jo""d "",